GinaCampbell

I read some interesting comments today and I wanted to make something really clear.
Out of all these people around the globe that are on this website, there are going to be some of us that have found post op, that this surgery was the wrong decision.
If you want this website to be honest and truthful, a source of good solid information for people considering surgery and a source of support for people post op, then everyone's experiences should be welcome.
The reason's I think this surgery was wrong for me has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with my post op complications!
And as for comments about people who regret their surgeries and have complications because:
• "houses were dirty"
• "they didn't follow instructions"
• "they haven't seen the great results yet"
• "they are just negative people and negative people are more vocal
So, just let me tell you this, some of us simply made a mistake.
We thought this was a good plan, we took advice, did our research, attended the seminars and weigh ins (in my case, two years attending).
We met our surgeons, we discussed our pre existing conditions, we spoke to our family and friends.
I myself have a counsellor, did CBT counselling for the entire two years pre op and am deemed emotionally and mentally sound. (just as an aside, my NHS CBT counsellor did not agree with this surgery).
I checked with my pain mgt team about the efficacy of my medications post op.
And it was still a mistake!
And so what?
It happens. And people like me should be able to explain these things without others trying to negate our admission of this mistake by offering excuses as to why we are unhappy with our decision.
I could have floated onto a cloud, had magical unicorns lick away my stomach, and woke up in paradise fully healed, sipping a cocktail in the sun and I would still tell you that this was a mistake for ME. And for many of my friends.
It doesn't matter how many years post op I get, I will consider this a mistake.
My house is not dirty, I followed instructions to the letter, I consider my bariatric discharge booklet my life guideline and I never variate.
I keep in touch with anyone and everyone in my medical care stream that might be helpful.
And complications happened. And yes, to many of us in our bariatric system. But again, it was not the complications that disturb us.
We all have different reasons for regretting it.
Most of us feel that we were misinformed, which doesn't help. My neighbour regrets her bypass because of her now permanent diarrhea and no improvement in her diabetes. She tells me that she has to think about food most of the day just to keep herself fed (choosing the right foods so as not to vomit), and she could have simply dieted harder if she had known she would have to think of food all day. She is three years post op and she still struggles with dehydration. Her hair never grew back after the initial drop out.
I myself am only 9 weeks post op and have had complications so I can't know what my future holds.
I miss eating quickly and simply in a way that doesn't have to be well thought out.
I want to be able to eat a full salad, maybe even with dressings, without worrying about which component might not agree with me.
I want to be able to eat any kind of meat I want cooked how I want in the quantity I want.
I want to drink beverages with my meals.
I miss a morning coffee or afternoon tea. I miss ice tea. (I know other people can drink it but I can't now).
I don't want to have to plan my food day meticulously or be different from others around me eating.
I want my medications to work again in the way they did pre op to control my fibromyalgia symptoms.
And I have definitely seen weightloss results. As I was lying there starving to death for seven weeks, I have lost all but 20lbs of my expected and required excess weight to satisfy my healthcare team. ( I am still only getting around 500 cals a day in, but have constant diarrhea so who knows how much stays in).
I now look "normal" except for the grey pallor in my skin and the nappy I now have to wear because of fecal incontinence (my IBS-d was totally controlled before surgery).
I am six dress sizes smaller but can only leave my house if I don't eat anything and wear adult protection in case of Water causing an "accident". Or in case I become faint from lack of food and fall.
So I do actually feel that had I read a forum entry like this, I might have thought twice.
And that's a good thing. If people are scared, that's okay. Let them hear more than just "don't worry, I was fine, you will be too!" Because maybe they won't!
So this is not about complications, it's about people.
One size does not fit all. Some of us should have simply accepted our weight, or worked harder to diet it off. Had I taken in only 300 to 500 calories a day for 9 weeks pre op, I would have lost all this weight anyway.
If you are happy, well done! If you are dead set on going ahead, ignore this. If you are a high BMI person (think 600lb life), God bless you, this may save your life, if you are a food addict, I feel your pain.
You will still have to diet post op! You will still have to exercise.
If you are undecided, then simply take a breath, think about it, really examine your food issues. Could you do more to lose weight? Could you move a bit more and eat a bit less?
Anyway, I am where I am and I plan to make the best of what I have left. And I intend to keep making sure that pre op people have a good think and post op people like me have someone they can talk to.
Thanks to everyone who is supporting me.
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Before this turns into yet another drama thread because I came here to let you know that you are not alone, let me say this to you then let the haters hate.
Things do change. You will eventually heal. Insist on seeing your team for support, tests and advice. Drink Water because dehydration will make you sick. Keep an eye on your temperature. Any spikes in temperature should be reported to your team. Vomiting, pain and trouble swallowing should also be reported.
You can see why there aren't alot of people here who discuss their regrets. Others here just can't accept or wrap their heads around this concept.
We were either too stupid to understand what we were getting into or just need to wait for the sleeve nirvana that seeing weightloss will give us.
I would trade the over 100lb weightloss today for a do over on this decision. My weightloss has not been because of my having a vsg, but because of starvation and malnutrition. Not a healthy way to lose weight. In the "real" world that would be anorexia.
Hang in there. The "5%" of us are here, just message one of us if you need help or support.
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Has anyone else followed this plan post op?
I found the book interesting and bought it after watching his videos on youtube.
I am 8 months post op and can eat again now but struggle with animal Protein. His plan is a vegetable based eating plan and he recommends this for his bariatric patients.
Just wondering if anyone has tried it out and how it worked out for them.
Thanks!
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Maybe don't read my journey my friend as I am the poster child for both unexpected complications and the after the fact realisation that vsg was not the right choice for me.
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Please hear me. I had vsg surgery in May 2016.
I did so willingly and earnestly determined that this surgery would be my saviour.
I am housebound and mostly bedbound from a chronic illness and the NHS bariatric team felt this surgery would "change my life". And it did,
Not for the better due to many life threatening post op complications and many predictable ones.
I own this because made the decision.
During this time, I was very vocal here about my disappointment in the NHS bariatric programme that I was a part of.
I have expressed my annoyance at lack of support from my "team" etc.
But please hear me, if this surgery is right for you, if you have studied, are supported, are confident, go ahead and take the chance.
For me personally, this surgery was wrong for me but for others, it might be the golden ticket.
Most of the die hard "happy sleevers" have blocked me so I get no hassle for expressing myself anymore, but for awhile, I did.
BP was a hostile place for me only because I dared to say, look, just really research the anomalies, people like me (the 5%) who found out that this surgery was a bad idea for them.
I still regret my surgery because the point was to become more healthy and more active. I am now less healthy and less active.
But that doesn't mean that it might not be right for others.
And regretting it doesn't really make much difference. Once the vsg has been performed, that's it done. Forever.
I just want folk here to know that some of us, really do think that this was a bad idea.
Pre op, post op, whatever. Just to know that someone thought it sucked and you can get support if you want it.
That's all really. Not all of us love our sleeve.
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I wish it was "free". We are taxed to the hilt for it so it's only free if you have never worked. Ironically, the same surgeons who do our bariatric work are also the surgeons who do the private bariatric surgery at the local private hospital.
Your statement about cancer patients does shock me. I do hope you blew the whistle on anyone who did that!
There are times when I have had good care here. Recently, not so much.
The reason I can't seek medical care elsewhere is because no one wants to touch another person's problems.
People do bring lawsuits here, but that is something that I wouldn't do. Any compensation I got would mean that someone else went without care.
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My point about the "normal and workable" stuff is that we were never given that information beforehand so our expectations were different than what happened to us. When asked questions, we were told not to worry, these things are rare. Would you want this surgical team and hospital to take out your gallbladder? Would you feel comfortable going straight back into surgery after finally absorbing an abdominal abscess?
Probiotics have not helped my diarrhea, so far.
I sip fluids from 7 am to midnight. Having diarrhea means that I am always behind in my fluids. I have accepted dehydration as yet another part of my new problems.
Hopefully, I can get a referral to someone in gastro quickly to find out why I am having cramps and spasms but I expect a six week wait.
As I have explained, we are all being treated by the NHS. These are not private doctors that we "hire".
We still have to depend on this service for our healthcare. We can't just make a complaint, then have our complaints addressed without consequence. We can even be removed from our GP surgery should our behaviour be deemed "inappropriate".
I have expressed my concern about my individual care, which is all I can do.
I get that expressing my feelings about my experience might not be popular but I will do all I can to make sure that anyone in the UK considering bariatric surgery, gets proper, genuine information from the NHS.
This surgery is not always right for everyone for many reasons.
Not everyone will move through the food stages normally. Not everyone will be able to get Protein in. Not everyone will be "eating normally" just smaller portions. Not everyone will ever eat meat, eggs, lettuce again.
We are told just to order our liquid meds from our GP, no problem. Getting your liquid meds for the six weeks after surgery may be almost impossible so prepare to go without a few days. Most GP surgeries will refuse to do it and the bariatric team won't pre order them for you. If your surgeon tells you to take large pills (as mine did), don't do it. They can get stuck and hurt you.
Not everyone will understand what a dramatic lifestyle change this will be. If thinking about food and dieting each day is too challenging, then thinking about food and Water in detail each day may be also.
I am disabled and find cooking hot meals awkward due to losing control of my hands and dropping hot things (even from the microwave). I used sandwiches and Cereal mostly beforehand for meals. I was told not to worry, that I could use Protein shakes, slim fast etc. Well no, I can't.
I want the seminars and meetings to say these things. I want the discharge booklet (that goes into more details about foods that might be problematic) to be available pre surgery.
I want people who have rapid weight loss due to complications to be given medication to protect their gallbladder.
The drug Cyclizine should be banned from NHS hospitals. Staff were overheard saying that they "pray each time they administer" this drug.
I also think that the incidences of people who have these surgeries and then later die of malnutrition or other post op complications, should be addressed pre surgery.
Then we can all give informed consent.
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We all had the same team but different surgeons. We are in Yorkshire, England. Why would I have an attorney?
I have read of complications here on these forums. Perhaps the ratio of people having WLS in the States compared to the population makes the incidence sound smaller.
I also think that people on forums don't want to sound negative so skim over complications etc.
We signed for a surgical complication rate of 1%.
But that is the issue. The statistics are split between actual surgical, post op, ward care, etc.
We feel that this program should be halted until we all are treated and are well and the reasons for all the abscesses etc are dealt with. But obviously, we are still under these surgeons care for the next two years so can't really complain.
I am lying here now with agonising spasms, cramps and diarrhea which I have had since Saturday.
No one from that team is interested so it will be up to my GP to investigate then send me to a gastro consultant. All which will take weeks.
As they didn't alter my bowels in surgery and the dietician doesn't think it sounds like a gallbladder issue, I am just left out here with no help.
This worries me.
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Each one of us attended a two year program where we lost weight if we could naturally, went to meetings, seminars, bariatric team discussions etc. We had exhaustive tests and each were either given the sleeve or bypass. My friend who had bypass was in a program that offered Excess skin removal after year one. They moved the goalposts to year two. Then they discontinued the excess skin removal agreement. She can only eat a few foods so lost all of her hair because she can't eat Proteins and has constant diarrhea. She is miserable.
All of us feel that during the two years, we were not given full and honest information regarding after effects. We weren't given any medication to prevent damage to our gallbladders nor were we warned they might have to be removed.
We weren't given information regarding food revulsion, inability to eat through the food stages, constant diarrhea, lactose intolerance etc.
We also were not told of the amount of people in our program who had complications after surgery, and we asked. My surgeon still says my surgery was "textbook" and declares his record as problem free despite my having severe complications and still being ill 8 weeks post op.
So we feel mislead. All three of us that had sleeves had severe post op complications. One had an abscess on her spleen and Fluid on her lungs and spent weeks in hospital on IV antibiotics. Her sleeve leaked and had to be re done. She is still really ill.
One of us was in intensive care for six weeks, had to have a tracheotomy and was on the critical list, he is still gravely ill.
I had a 6.6 cm abdominal abscess that nearly killed me, spent weeks in hospital, dropped over 60lbs in 4 weeks, which might have killed my gallbladder, was given a near fatal dose of Cyclizine which caused lingering stroke symptoms and I am still ill on fluids at 8 week post op and can't eat any Proteins, am now lactose intolerant, I will have my gallbladder out once the abscess clears, if I am brave enough. My wounds haven't healed yet from the sleeve op yet. I can't tolerate any Vitamins etc I am supposed to take. And the aftercare we receive has been awful and totally confusing.
We all also feel that we were not fully informed about eating after the sleeve. We were told that once we got through the stages, we would be eating normally, just small portions.
We weren't told how many of us die each year from malnutrition here in the UK.
On discharge, we were given a booklet regarding food stages and foods that might cause problems.
None of us would have had our surgeries if we had had this booklet before our sleeves.
So no, we can't get together as we are all at home, ill, mostly on antibiotics and other treatments, facing more serious ops and treatments, months after our sleeves. Most of us battling dehydration.
Another lady we know has lost over 120lbs in 8 weeks. She is still in hospital and they don't know what's wrong yet.
We feel that we have been made permanently disabled by this surgery and not given accurate information so that we could make informed decisions.
I researched this thoroughly and asked questions and was told not to worry, that they rarely had problems. They split the statistics up so that the complications are shown as ward aftercare etc.
Four out of four of us is not rare, but a 100% complication rate.
Yes, we will all have to accept our stupid decision. Our families will get over the trauma of us nearly dying from complications. I am in counselling via telephone.
We are all just hoping to be well enough to drive a car again, go to church again, eat enough food to live again. (I am still only getting 300 or so calories but I am up from 100 calories a day for six weeks).
I am not "fighting" this sleeve. I am learning to live with an elective disablement.
Maybe this is just the difference in healthcare between countries. None of us were above 250lbs, all of us could walk normally, only one of us had diabetes and still has it two years post op after all the weight was lost.
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Totally regret it! My three friends also regret it. But we can't change it now.
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I read some interesting comments today and I wanted to make something really clear.
Out of all these people around the globe that are on this website, there are going to be some of us that have found post op, that this surgery was the wrong decision.
If you want this website to be honest and truthful, a source of good solid information for people considering surgery and a source of support for people post op, then everyone's experiences should be welcome.
The reason's I think this surgery was wrong for me has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with my post op complications!
And as for comments about people who regret their surgeries and have complications because:
• "houses were dirty"
• "they didn't follow instructions"
• "they haven't seen the great results yet"
• "they are just negative people and negative people are more vocal
So, just let me tell you this, some of us simply made a mistake.
We thought this was a good plan, we took advice, did our research, attended the seminars and weigh ins (in my case, two years attending).
We met our surgeons, we discussed our pre existing conditions, we spoke to our family and friends.
I myself have a counsellor, did CBT counselling for the entire two years pre op and am deemed emotionally and mentally sound. (just as an aside, my NHS CBT counsellor did not agree with this surgery).
I checked with my pain mgt team about the efficacy of my medications post op.
And it was still a mistake!
And so what?
It happens. And people like me should be able to explain these things without others trying to negate our admission of this mistake by offering excuses as to why we are unhappy with our decision.
I could have floated onto a cloud, had magical unicorns lick away my stomach, and woke up in paradise fully healed, sipping a cocktail in the sun and I would still tell you that this was a mistake for ME. And for many of my friends.
It doesn't matter how many years post op I get, I will consider this a mistake.
My house is not dirty, I followed instructions to the letter, I consider my bariatric discharge booklet my life guideline and I never variate.
I keep in touch with anyone and everyone in my medical care stream that might be helpful.
And complications happened. And yes, to many of us in our bariatric system. But again, it was not the complications that disturb us.
We all have different reasons for regretting it.
Most of us feel that we were misinformed, which doesn't help. My neighbour regrets her bypass because of her now permanent diarrhea and no improvement in her diabetes. She tells me that she has to think about food most of the day just to keep herself fed (choosing the right foods so as not to vomit), and she could have simply dieted harder if she had known she would have to think of food all day. She is three years post op and she still struggles with dehydration. Her hair never grew back after the initial drop out.
I myself am only 9 weeks post op and have had complications so I can't know what my future holds.
I miss eating quickly and simply in a way that doesn't have to be well thought out.
I want to be able to eat a full salad, maybe even with dressings, without worrying about which component might not agree with me.
I want to be able to eat any kind of meat I want cooked how I want in the quantity I want.
I want to drink beverages with my meals.
I miss a morning coffee or afternoon tea. I miss ice tea. (I know other people can drink it but I can't now).
I don't want to have to plan my food day meticulously or be different from others around me eating.
I want my medications to work again in the way they did pre op to control my fibromyalgia symptoms.
And I have definitely seen weightloss results. As I was lying there starving to death for seven weeks, I have lost all but 20lbs of my expected and required excess weight to satisfy my healthcare team. ( I am still only getting around 500 cals a day in, but have constant diarrhea so who knows how much stays in).
I now look "normal" except for the grey pallor in my skin and the nappy I now have to wear because of fecal incontinence (my IBS-d was totally controlled before surgery).
I am six dress sizes smaller but can only leave my house if I don't eat anything and wear adult protection in case of Water causing an "accident". Or in case I become faint from lack of food and fall.
So I do actually feel that had I read a forum entry like this, I might have thought twice.
And that's a good thing. If people are scared, that's okay. Let them hear more than just "don't worry, I was fine, you will be too!" Because maybe they won't!
So this is not about complications, it's about people.
One size does not fit all. Some of us should have simply accepted our weight, or worked harder to diet it off. Had I taken in only 300 to 500 calories a day for 9 weeks pre op, I would have lost all this weight anyway.
If you are happy, well done! If you are dead set on going ahead, ignore this. If you are a high BMI person (think 600lb life), God bless you, this may save your life, if you are a food addict, I feel your pain.
You will still have to diet post op! You will still have to exercise.
If you are undecided, then simply take a breath, think about it, really examine your food issues. Could you do more to lose weight? Could you move a bit more and eat a bit less?
Anyway, I am where I am and I plan to make the best of what I have left. And I intend to keep making sure that pre op people have a good think and post op people like me have someone they can talk to.
Thanks to everyone who is supporting me.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Happy Easter everyone!

I am not very good with tech and I have used the search facility. I want to update the figures on my weightloss statistics on my profile but I just can't figure it out.

Can anyone tell me how to do it?

Thank you, Gina

Each one of us attended a two year program where we lost weight if we could naturally, went to meetings, seminars, bariatric team discussions etc. We had exhaustive tests and each were either given the sleeve or bypass. My friend who had bypass was in a program that offered Excess skin removal after year one. They moved the goalposts to year two. Then they discontinued the excess skin removal agreement. She can only eat a few foods so lost all of her hair because she can't eat Proteins and has constant diarrhea. She is miserable.
All of us feel that during the two years, we were not given full and honest information regarding after effects. We weren't given any medication to prevent damage to our gallbladders nor were we warned they might have to be removed.
We weren't given information regarding food revulsion, inability to eat through the food stages, constant diarrhea, lactose intolerance etc.
We also were not told of the amount of people in our program who had complications after surgery, and we asked. My surgeon still says my surgery was "textbook" and declares his record as problem free despite my having severe complications and still being ill 8 weeks post op.
So we feel mislead. All three of us that had sleeves had severe post op complications. One had an abscess on her spleen and Fluid on her lungs and spent weeks in hospital on IV antibiotics. Her sleeve leaked and had to be re done. She is still really ill.
One of us was in intensive care for six weeks, had to have a tracheotomy and was on the critical list, he is still gravely ill.
I had a 6.6 cm abdominal abscess that nearly killed me, spent weeks in hospital, dropped over 60lbs in 4 weeks, which might have killed my gallbladder, was given a near fatal dose of Cyclizine which caused lingering stroke symptoms and I am still ill on fluids at 8 week post op and can't eat any Proteins, am now lactose intolerant, I will have my gallbladder out once the abscess clears, if I am brave enough. My wounds haven't healed yet from the sleeve op yet. I can't tolerate any Vitamins etc I am supposed to take. And the aftercare we receive has been awful and totally confusing.
We all also feel that we were not fully informed about eating after the sleeve. We were told that once we got through the stages, we would be eating normally, just small portions.
We weren't told how many of us die each year from malnutrition here in the UK.
On discharge, we were given a booklet regarding food stages and foods that might cause problems.
None of us would have had our surgeries if we had had this booklet before our sleeves.
So no, we can't get together as we are all at home, ill, mostly on antibiotics and other treatments, facing more serious ops and treatments, months after our sleeves. Most of us battling dehydration.
Another lady we know has lost over 120lbs in 8 weeks. She is still in hospital and they don't know what's wrong yet.
We feel that we have been made permanently disabled by this surgery and not given accurate information so that we could make informed decisions.
I researched this thoroughly and asked questions and was told not to worry, that they rarely had problems. They split the statistics up so that the complications are shown as ward aftercare etc.
Four out of four of us is not rare, but a 100% complication rate.
Yes, we will all have to accept our stupid decision. Our families will get over the trauma of us nearly dying from complications. I am in counselling via telephone.
We are all just hoping to be well enough to drive a car again, go to church again, eat enough food to live again. (I am still only getting 300 or so calories but I am up from 100 calories a day for six weeks).
I am not "fighting" this sleeve. I am learning to live with an elective disablement.
Maybe this is just the difference in healthcare between countries. None of us were above 250lbs, all of us could walk normally, only one of us had diabetes and still has it two years post op after all the weight was lost.
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Totally regret it! My three friends also regret it. But we can't change it now.
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Thank you! I can't take credit for that. All of my weight came off due to complications post op.
I am determined to get healthy and maintain the weightloss though.
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I am an eight months post op gastric sleeve patient in the UK.
I have had every complication going and unfortunately, have had limited support from my NHS bariatric team.
So I have been learned alone how to manage my post op care, Vitamins and diet.
Someone here recommended Dr Weiner's youtube videos so I watched every one of them.
His advice has been fantastic. The video explaining how and why we lose so much weight in the initial post op period, then hit that wall around the nine month mark, was such a revelation.
I have bought his book, a plan that he recommends to everyone who wants to lose weight, but very helpful to WLS patients.
The plan is so different than my bariatric plan but so much better.
I have to follow a low fodmap diet, plus a wls diet, so was really struggling to find a diet plan that suited me.
I live alone so don't like to cook as I have no one else to feed but this book has me excited about my next year in this process.
I have also bought a fitbit which has also been so encouraging for me. It means that I can track everything so I can keep to my diet and exercise program.
I am quite housebound with a disability so the positive information from Dr Weiner and the data that the fitbit gives me has helped so much.
Dr Weiner will do skype consultations. For people like me who are doing all of this alone without support, his videos and diet information are a God send.
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I am an eight months post op gastric sleeve patient in the UK.
I have had every complication going and unfortunately, have had limited support from my NHS bariatric team.
So I have been learned alone how to manage my post op care, Vitamins and diet.
Someone here recommended Dr Weiner's youtube videos so I watched every one of them.
His advice has been fantastic. The video explaining how and why we lose so much weight in the initial post op period, then hit that wall around the nine month mark, was such a revelation.
I have bought his book, a plan that he recommends to everyone who wants to lose weight, but very helpful to WLS patients.
The plan is so different than my bariatric plan but so much better.
I have to follow a low fodmap diet, plus a wls diet, so was really struggling to find a diet plan that suited me.
I live alone so don't like to cook as I have no one else to feed but this book has me excited about my next year in this process.
I have also bought a fitbit which has also been so encouraging for me. It means that I can track everything so I can keep to my diet and exercise program.
I am quite housebound with a disability so the positive information from Dr Weiner and the data that the fitbit gives me has helped so much.
Dr Weiner will do skype consultations. For people like me who are doing all of this alone without support, his videos and diet information are a God send.
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His videos are amazing and his book is fantastic! Can't recommend him highly enough. I wish he had been my doctor!
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Yes, things will improve eventually. Don't rush your solids. Get your Water in first, Protein next and all your supplements. I carry a Protein Bar in my handbag and always have a cup a Soup sachet in there too.
I went back to full fluids four or five times in the past seven months.
food had definitely lost it's appeal for me and nothing really tastes nice.
I have come to accept this.
Sip your Water, take tiny bites of food on your plan.
Speak to your team about more anti nausea meds.
You will be okay. It must be hard with a little one around to care for.
Take care of yourself! You can do this.
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If you are choosing surgeries based off which one is reversible, surgery probably isn't a good option for you.

Perhaps that is because of the high membership of this group, the varying regions and quality of care or because people here are less fearful of reporting.
If you ask my bariatric team, they deem my surgery as 100% successful because I hit goal weight at 4 months out according to their records.
Because they only measure weight loss and not health, I am not reported in their stream as having "complications".
I keep a presence here to support anyone I can. If I can eventually recover, then other people with near fatal post op complications can.
The symptoms my team said were because I was "anxious", were because of a serious, contagious clostridium difficile infection that could have also been fatal. Not to mention passing the infection to dozens of other people.
I was left with only a diagnosis. I had to fight for meds, re testing and no medical person ever once supported me or gave me information.
It was devastating to be abandoned when you are physically and emotionally fighting to recover.
I have my faith, but so many don't and need support.
I receive messages here frequently, from people suffering from post op complications, who don't message publicly.
I even get messages thanking me for refusing to stop supporting other people publicly, thanking me for telling my story.
I want post op folks to know that it is okay to feel regret. And for people who are really sick, telling them how great they will feel about it all because the weight is coming off, is really not helpful.
Really sick people who are losing weight through malnutrition and illness, are not pleased about it.
People who may have known pre op about the nausea, baldness, etc may not have truly appreciated the degree of these normal post op issues and have regrets.
For example, If the reason you want to lose weight is so you can be more mobile, to be more social, yet your baldness now prevents you, regrets are normal.
Regrets don't magically disappear at 3 weeks, 3 months or 6 months.
But the issues do change. The way you eat does change. Some infections heal, such as incision sites and some you battle with indefinitely like c diff.
Some people lose hair, others go bald and some lose no hair at all. My daughter would rather be bald than to be fat. I wouldn't.
I wasn't worried about loose skin. I knew that I would have some and planned to have it surgically removed. Now I can't as I am an unsuitable candidate. The skin on my thighs now impedes me from walking comfortably and it limits the clothes I can wear.
So some of my personal reasons for having surgery were not corrected by my vsg.
Hearing all the wonderful stories of weightloss, full health etc makes me happy. I love seeing people blessed and living well.
This was not my outcome. I just want people's expectations and information to be correct.
And most of all, for people to feel accepted, supported, heard and understood.
Even when they are being silly, emotional, reckless, going off plan, there might be genuinely intentioned people needing help.
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Good luck to you, keep us posted!
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I have never vomited. I never have pushed my sleeve to it's limit. I did have some nausea in the first few weeks post op.
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I learned to take a mouthful of liquid and turn it into several swallows. Strange the new techniques we are learning!

I know! It's the first year that my plan involved eating more and slowing weight loss down!
Happy New Year!
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